C-Band FMCW RADAR Receiver Architecture for Space Debris Observation

This paper presents the receiver architecture used in frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) RADAR for space debris observation. It has been designed to operate in the 2 to 6 GHz C band and has an intermediate frequency stage in which the automatic gain controller is implemented. The design mitigates the effect of the self-interference by filtering it in analogue base-band stage. The receiver has an automatic 80 dB dynamic range for the gain, a noise figure of 1.5 dB, a sensitivity level dictated by the self-interference signal at −148 dBm/Hz and a total gain of up to 115 dB. It must be mentioned that the design incorporates only commercial off-the-shelf components (COTS).